Sequoia Danielle Barnes' practice is rooted in a research-led exploration of Black Radical Art. Working across ceramic sculpture, quilting, stitching/embroidery, and soft sculpture, she engages in the semiotic and material deconstruction of black diasporic representation. This process dismantles the visual language of white supremacy while interrogating the 'rose tinting' of black histories, revealing their complex and often obscured realities.
Barnes' process centers around the importance of making, rituals, and modes of fashioning, positioning the creation of 'art' as equally important as the resulting object. She reappropriates emblems of anti-blackness, inviting scrutiny of racist stereotyping and its regular proliferation into modern culture. Her work often underscores the intersection of cuteness and oppression, and the insidious weaving of racial stereotypes into the fabric of visual culture. Through a blend of materiality, narrative, and cultural critique, Barnes' art serves as a reminder of the uncomfortable truths that cuteness cannot completely mask.
Her work has been shown at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Centre for Contemporary Art - Glasgow, Edinburgh Art Festival, Fruitmarket, and Tramway-Glasgow. She received her PhD in Design from Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She also holds a MA in History of Design and Material Culture from the University of Brighton, a MS in Fashion Studies with certification in museum studies from the University of Delaware, and a BA in Studio Art (ceramic sculpture) with a minor in professional writing from Spring Hill College.
She is currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
CV available upon request.